Barclays a annoncé le 18 mai l’arrivée de Tony Blanco, 44 ans, au sein de Barclays Bank France en qualité de directeur général adjoint, directeur de la clientèle privée et membre du comité exécutif. Il est directement rattaché à Pascal Roché, directeur général de Barclays Bank France, country manager et responsable Europe de la clientèle Barclays Premier. Tony Blanco travaillait précédemment chez McKinsey dans le secteur des services fina nciers en France.Guillaume Touze, 39 ans, précédemment directeur de la clientèle privée, prend en charge la responsabilité nouvellement créée de directeur du métier d’Investissements pour l’Europe de l’Ouest. Il coordonnera dans ce cadre l’ensemble de l’offre en produits d’investissements destinée à la clientèle de particuliers. Il sera basé à Londres et continuera à rendre compte à Pascal Roché dans le cadre de ses responsabilités européennes.

Jusqu’au 6 août, BNP Paribas commercialise Massala et Massala PEA, deux fonds à formule garantissant le capital investi à l'échéance fixée le 22 août 2016. A cette date, le souscripteur profite partiellement de l’évolution de l’indice Euro Stoxx 50.Cependant, une échéance anticipée est prévue deux ans après la souscription, qui assure un gain de 9% (soit un rendement actuariel de 4,30%) à l’investisseur. Pour cela, il faut que la moyenne des performances annuelles de l’indice Euro Stoxx 50 constatées par rapport à son cours d’origine soit supérieure ou égale à 15%. Dans ce cas, le capital majoré des 9 % est versé le 22 août 2012. Dans le cas contraire - si la moyenne des deux performances annuelles de l’indice est donc inférieure à 15% - l'épargne reste investie jusqu’à l’échéance, le 22 août 2016 et le gain sera égal à 75 % de la moyenne annuelle calculée le 10 août 2016 à partir des 6 performances annuelles de l’indice (sans pouvoir être négatives). Caractéristiques Code ISIN : MASSALA - FR0010868828Code ISIN : MASSALA PEA - FR0010868836Droits d’entrée : 2 % (non acquis à l’OPCVM)Frais de gestion : 2 % maximumMontant de la part : 200 euros Montant minimum à la souscription :Souscription : jusqu’au 30 juillet 2010 inclus dans le cadre d’un contrat d’assurance vie ou de capitalisation

Jusqu’au 8 juillet 2010, le Crédit Agricole propose Fixéo 2 un fonds éligible au Plan d’Epargne en Actions (PEA) et au compte-titres ordinaire, dont l’objectif est de tirer parti de l'évolution de l’indice Euro Stoxx 50 à un horizon de 18 mois ou 3 ans. Fixéo 2 prévoit en effet une sortie conditionnelle à 18 mois (le 9 janvier 2012) accompagnée d’une performance de 12 % (soit un taux de rendement annuel de 7,83 %), à condition que l’indice Euro Stoxx 50(1) ait évolué de façon positive ou nulle par rapport à son niveau initial. Dans le cas contraire, l'échéance est fixée le 9 juillet 2013 avec une performance de 24 % (soit un taux de rendement annuel de 7,43 %) à condition également que l’Euro Stoxx 50 ait évolué de façon positive ou nulle par rapport à son niveau initial. Une protection du capital investi est mise en place dès lors que l’Euro Stoxx 50 ne baisse pas de plus de 40 % à l’échéance des 3 ans. En cas de baisse supérieure à 40% à l’échéance, le fonds présente un risque de perte en capital. Caractéristiques Code Isin FR0010877688 Frais de fonctionnement et de gestion maximum 2,50 % TTC / an maximum Commission de souscription • 2 % maximum jusqu’au 9 juillet 2010 à 12 h • 1,5 % maximum par arbitrage avec les fonds Atout Monétaire PEA, Relais Monélia (ex-Atout Monélia), Relais PEA Monélia (ex-Atout PEA Monélia) • 4 % maximum en dehors de la période de souscription (dont 1 % acquis au fonds) Commission de rachat • Néant à l’échéance • En cours de vie : 1 % (acquis au fonds) sur la dernière VL des mois de février, mai, août et novembre de chaque année civile (d’août 2010 à mai 2013) • 2 % à d’autres dates (acquis au fonds) Valeur de la part à l’origine 100 euros Minimum de la première souscription 1 part Minimum des souscriptions ultérieures 1 millième de part Durée de placement 18 mois ou 3 ans, selon l’évolution de l’indice Euro Stoxx 50

BNP Paribas Investment Partners (BNPP IP) a annoncé mardi 18 mai la nomination de Michael Gordon au poste de responsable des investissements en actions du centre d’investissement multispécialiste BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM). Il rendra compte de ses activités à Christian Dargnat, responsable du centre d’investissement multispécialiste et CEO de BNPP AM, précise un communiqué de la banque. Avant de rejoindre BNP Paribas Investment Partners à Londres, Michael Gordon occupait le poste de responsable mondial des investissements institutionnels chez Fidelity Investments International.

Présent sur toute la chaîne de valeur de l’immobilier, de la promotion à la distribution en passant par l’asset management et le property management, Perial a présenté hier les grandes lignes de son projet de développement pour les trois prochaines années."Aujourd’hui, notre ambition est de conforter notre position de «pure player» de l’immobilier en accentuant les synergies entre nos différents métiers», a souligné le président de Perial, Eric Cosserat. La qualité restera le fil conducteur des projets du groupe mais la surface financière et le volume des encours lui permettront désormais de se positionner sur des projets plus ambitieux aussi bien en tant qu’investisseur, que promoteur, ou property manager. Les encours sous gestion devraient cette année approcher la barre du milliard d’euros puisqu’ils se situent autour de 850 millions d’euros et que l’objectif de collecte pour 2010 a été fixé à environ 100 millions d’euros, dont 60 millions pour les SCPI et 40 millions pour l’OPCI dont le closing est programmé pour le mois de juin.Autre priorité du groupe, la diversification de la clientèle. Perial souhaite ainsi toucher l’ensemble de la clientèle patrimoniale, de la banque privée aux CGPI. Sur le chapitre des CGPI, Perial, qui observe que le turnover est trop élevé, se propose ainsi de développer des produits mieux adaptés à la distribution intermédiée, de mettre à disposition de nouveaux services (outils d’aide à la vente), de passer des accords avec des plates-formes (Sélection R) ou encore de référencer la SCPI PFO2 chez tous les grands assureurs de la place.Perial veut aussi consolider son savoir-faire au service des banques privées et des investisseurs institutionnels. Dans cette perspective, et afin de mettre en place des produits et services qui répondent au mieux aux besoins de ses clients, le groupe a créé il y a quelques mois un comité d’innovation qui étudie et élabore les nouvelles offres des entités du groupe. Et comme il l’a déjà fait au travers du partenariat avec Immovalor pour la distribution de la SCPI Domivalor 4, Perial confirme sa volonté de fonctionner en architecture ouverte. Le développement durable est le troisième grand axe de développement des prochaines années. Plusieurs initiatives, d’ores et déjà engagées, vont trouver leur aboutissement dans les mois à venir. Perial AM a ainsi établi, pour la SCPI PFO2, une grille d’acquisition évaluant la performance énergétique des biens afin de sélectionner les immeubles qui constitueront son patrimoine. Parallèlement, Perial AM réalise un audit énergétique d’une première partie du patrimoine de toutes les SCPI du groupe qui permettra de définir les travaux à mener, et leur coût, pour atteindre les objectifs de performance énergétique (-20% en 2020).

Sabre Fund Management will launch a UCITS III-compliant fund in July, which for the first time will provide access to its market neutral strategy, entitled Sabre Style Arbitrage Fund. Since its launch in 2002, the fund has earned annual returns of 8.2%. The fund, which will make its investment selections from a universe of 1,500 companies, aims for total returns of 8% to 12% per year.

Matrix Group will launch the Matric Asia Ucits Fund, one of a very few pan-Asian long/short equities funds, which will be managed by Rupert Foster, who has been head of Asian long/short funds for 16 years. The fund will be exposed to Asian equities markets including China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and Singapore.

Ministres et députés européens se donnent trois mois pour concilier leurs deux versions

En un an, S&P a dégradé 452 tranches de 103 transactions, soit 52 % des tranches de CMBS dont l'agence assure le suivi

Islamic finance worldwide is expected to measure USD1.4trn in 2010, and USD1.6trn by 2012. But Italy will not be able to capture more than a small fraction of this total, since its legal system is not designed to be compatible with investment instruments that respect Sharia law, Il Sole – 24 Ore reports. So far, no legislation has been proposed to address this issue, and the country is still in the phase of gaining awareness of it, while other countries such as France, the United Kingdom, and Germany have already adapted their legislative frameworks.

Reyl Asset Management has launched an Irish hedge fund firm specialised in seed and development capital for hedge funds. The Reyl Accelerator Fund will be advised by FRM Capital Advisors, which will select hedge fund managers eligible for the fund, which will aim to unite a diversified portfolio of managers practicing a wide range of strategies (directional trading, relative value, equity long short, specialist credit, and idiosyncratic strategy).

The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) on 17 May published two consultation documents on the subject of ratings agencies. The first concerns the supervision of ratings agencies by the competent authorities under the terms of article 21.3(a) of the regulation which stipulates that the CESR will publish recommendations in this area by 7 September 2010. The second document covers recommendations in relation to the applicable standards to evaluate the suitability of methodologies employed by ratings agencies to the regulatory requirements set out in article 8(3). These recommendations will also be published by 7 September of this year. The two consultations will remain open until 18 June.

As part of its strategy to make Asia its second domestic market, the bank Julius Baer (CHF175bn in assets under management as of the end of April) has announced 11 recruitments for its private banking and products team. Among the senior relationship managers joining the team are the country market manager for Singapore and Malaysia from Société Générale, Vincent Lim Chuan Hoo, who becomes team head of private banking for South East Asia. Evelyn Yeo joins from the private wealth management division of Deutsche Bank to become head of investment advisory services. The other recruitments include specialists in structured products, capital markets and government bonds.

Hedge funds posted gains of 1.35% in April, bringing performance in the first four months of the year to 4.63%, according to the Barclay Hedge Fund index calculated by BarclayHedge. Three strategies finished in the red in April: European equities (-0.05%), health and biotechnologies (-0.02%), and equity short bias (-5.46%).

The Dreyfus Corporation, a part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, has announced the launch of the Dreyfus Global Return Fund, an absolute return fund managed by Newton Capital Management, a boutique belonging to BNY Mellon AM specialised in regional and international equities and bonds, as well as in multi-asset class absolute return funds. The fund will concentrate its investments in international equities, bonds, and cash, and to a lesser extent in real estate, commodities, currencies, alternative and non-traditional assets.

The Dreyfus Corporation, a part of BNY Mellon Asset Management, has announced the launch of the Dreyfus Global Return Fund, an absolute return fund managed by Newton Capital Management, a boutique belonging to BNY Mellon AM specialised in regional and international equities and bonds, as well as in multi-asset class absolute return funds. The fund will concentrate its investments in international equities, bonds, and cash, and to a lesser extent in real estate, commodities, currencies, alternative and non-traditional assets.

The global investible hedge fund index from Lyxor Asset Mangement which is down 1.02% for the 1st-11th May period, in April posted a gain of 0.92%, compared with 2.12% in March (see Newsmanagers of 12 April), bringing performance in the first four months of the year to 2.96%. Three strategies were in the red for April, including long/short equity short bias (-1.64%) and L/S equity statistical arbitrage (-1.04%). In January-April, long/short equity short bias is the only category showing a loss (-11.06%). However, the strategy gained back 2.56% between 1st and 11th May, reducing its losses since the beginning of the year to 8.78%.

The financial services provider MLP has announced net profits in first quarter 2010 of EUR2m, compared with EUR0.1m, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were up 26% to EUR4m. Assets under management increased to EUR17.7bn as of 31 March, from EUR17bn as of the end of December. Commission revenues from wealth management (largely from Feri) increased 7% to EUR18.3m. MLP is still aiming for an EBIT margin of 15% by the end of 2012, compared with 7.9% in 2009.

The German group M.M. Warburg & Co KGaA on Monday announced the acquisition of an 80% stake in the Zurich-based Family Office Bank Private Client Partners AG, in which a 20% stake continues for the moment to be controlled by the founder and CEO, Andreas Bodemann. Warburg has an option to later increase its participation to 100%. The operation will allow the German private bank to build its presence in the family office market, a sector of activity in which it began in 1998, and since concentrated in its Hamburg-based affiliate Marcard, Stein & Co. Private Clients Partners will retain its operational independence. The acquisition price has not been revealed.

The new long-only CIO of Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) from this summer will be Jean-Baptiste Segard, who was previously head of business development at GLG Partners in London, and CEO of Société Générale Asset Management Royaume-Uni (SGAM UK).In his new role, Segard will supervise the existing long-only investment centres of UBP in Europe, and “will undertake an expansion of the group’s resources and expertise in this segment worldwide.” Segard’s immediate priorities will include setting up several funds managed by the UBP Multi-Asset team in Geneva, and continuing to strengthen the group’s expertise in emerging markets.

On Monday, HSBC launched a new sub-fund of HSBC ETFs plc, the Irish-registered fund HSBC S&P 500 ETF, which replicates the US S&P 500 index. Farley Thomas, head of ETFs at HSBC, says the new product, denominated in US dollars and listed on the London Stock Exchange, will physically replicate the US large caps index, to minimise tracking error. Characteristics Name: HSBC S&P 500 ETF ISIN: IE00B5KQNG97 Management commission: 0.15%

State Street Global Advisors (SsgA) and Nuveen Asset Management (an affiliate of Nuveen Investments) have announced the launch of an ETF fund based on US municipal bonds, the SPDR Nuveen Barclays Capital Build America Bond. Management fees are set at 0.35% per year. The ETF will seek to replicate the performance of the Barclays Capital Build America Bond fund, which as of 30 April this year was invested in 85 bond issues. Build America Bonds, created as part of last year’s recovery and stimulus program (the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), will attract investors for whom investment in traditional municipal bonds represent a tax reduction, insofar as these bonds are taxed, but also offer returns equivalent to those of corporate bonds with much lower risk. Between the launch of the program in April 2009 and 31 March this year, there have been 1,066 issues of Build America Bonds totalling over USD90bn.

Thanks to market appreciation, SRI assets under management at Dexia Asset Management rose 12% last year to EUR18bn, according to the 2009 sustainable development report published by Dexia. The 2009 fiscal year however ended with net outflows of EUR99m while 2008 had generated EUR500m in net inflows. Dexia AM’s share of the European SRI market dropped 11.1% to 5.6% from 6.3% in ’08 and 7.5% in ’07. This decrease might possibly be ascribed to the arrival of new competitors on the market, but it also could be blamed on Dexia’s lower returns. The asset manager experienced the loss of an SRI mandate from the French Fonds de réserve des retraites (FRR) at the beginning of this year. Since March, Isabelle Cabie a taken over the sustainable and responsible investment operation, replacing Gaëtan Herinckx, who quit to develop a personal project from South Africa.

Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors (FTREA) has recruited Joyce T. Shapiro as managing director for its new team specialised in multi-management of «real» assets. She was previously at Brookfield Asset Management. The new team will cover infrastructure, energy, water, agriculture, and timber.

The pension fund for New York teachers, TIAA-CREF, is planning to develop its investment management activities serving charities, Bloomberg reports. Goldman Sachs and Pacific Investment Management (Pimco) have already made moves into this market. US charities are expected to invest over USD500bn through external management firms by the end of 2012, according to estimates by Casey & Associates LLC. Most outsourcing candidates are organisations with assets ranging from USD250m to USD750m.

Morningstar France Holding announced on Monday, 17 May, that it has acquired the Seeds Group and its affiliates, Seeds Finance and Multiratings, two financial investment consulting and fund research companies in France. The acquisition price was not revealed. Joe Mansueto, president and CEO of Morningstar Inc, says the acquisition of Seeds Group, which has 30 clients, will allow the firm to extend its financial investment advisory services in France. Morningstar is planning to rely on the expertise of the firm in the area of alternative management, and to increase its fund of fund advising capabilities. With multiratings.com, the group will have a site offering analysis of UICTS funds and financial training for independent financial advisers and institutional investors. Once the acquisition is completed, Jean-François Bay and Vianney Dubois, co-founders and CEO, will continue to lead the activities of the new Morningstar affiliate.

The British alternative management firm Man Group on 17 May announced the acquisition of GLG Partners for a total of about USD1.6bn. The new entity will have approximately USD63bn in assets under management (of which Man accounts for slightly over USD39bn as of 31 March this year). The transaction is composed of two parts: a cash offer for GLG shareholders, and an offer in shares for the main partners at GLG, including Noam Gottesman, Pierre Lagrange, and Emmanuel Roman. By the terms of the agreement, GLG shareholders will receive USD4.50 per share, about 55% above their closing price on Friday, 14 May. The main shareholders and associated entities will be offered 1.0856 net Man share for each ordinary GLG share, valuing GLG shares at USD3.50. Man says the cost savings generated by the deal, which is expected to close by the end of September, could total about USD50m per year. Noam Gottesman, chairman and co-CEO of GLG, says the two firms have highly complementary activities insofar as both firms pursue long-term performance objectives with different client bases and investment strategies.

Alexander (Sandy) Black, who was head of equities at Insight Investment after serving as head of European equities at Deutsche Asset Management, has been recruited at investment director by J O Hambro Capital Management (JOHCM). He is a full-time replacement for Vicky Hastings, who had served in this role part-time since September 2006. For a few months, Hastings will remain at the firm to ensure a smooth transition.

On Monday, Deutsche Börse announced the admission to trading on the XTF segment of its Xetra electronic platform of 14 Luxembourg-registered equities ETF funds, of which 6 are from db x-trackers (Deutsche Bank), 5 from Comstage (Commerzbank), and three from Lyxor Asset Management (Société Générale). The products bring the number of ETF funds listed in Frankfurt to 669. The new funds include the following products: db x-trackers - db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Real Estate ETF (LU0489337690, management commission 0.20%) - db x-trackers FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Eurozone Real Estate ETF (LU0489336965, commission 0.15%) - db x-trackers MSCI Canada TRN Index ETF (LU0476289540, commission 0.15%) - db x-trackers MSCI Europe Value TRN Index ETF (LU0486851024, commission 0.20%) - db x-trackers MSCI Mexico TRN Index ETF (LU0476289466, commission 0.45%) and - db x-trackers S&P 500 ETF (LU0490618542, commission 0.05%). ComStage - ComStage ETF Cac 40 (LU0419740799; management commission 0.20%) - ComStage ETF Cac 40 Short TR (LU0419740955 ; commission 0.35%) - ComStage ETF Cac 40 Leverage (LU0419741094, commission 0.30%) - ComStage ETF S&P 500 (LU0488316133, commission 0.18%) and - ComStage ETF NYSE Arca Gold Bugs (LU0488317701, commission 0.65%) Lyxor Asset Management - Lyxor ETF S&P 500 (LU0496786574, management commission 0.20%) - Lyxor ETF S&P TSX 60 (LU0496786731, commission 0.30%) and - Lyxor ETF S&P ASX 200 (LU0496786905, commission 0.30%)

Les Echos reports that the 27 European Union member states will today vote to pass the planned AIFM directive, without opposition from the United Kingdom. The UK government announced yesterday evening that it would accept the compromise offered by the Spanish EU presidency. For the moment, the British will abandon their efforts to allow asset management firms based outside Europe to apply for a “European passport” which would allow them to make their funds available throughout the EU as soon as they have obtained authorisation from any single EU member state. This position will now be brought into line with that of the European Parliament, whose specialised commission yesterday evening announced its support for the planned directive, in a vote in favour of a passport for asset management firms from countries outside the EU.